IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, SYSTEM-ON-CHIP (soc) UNIT, AND DRIVING METHOD THEREOF

ABSTRACT

An image forming apparatus is connected to a host device including first and second power domains which are separately supplied with power and includes first and second memories to be disposed in the second power domain, a main controller disposed in the first power domain and to perform a control operation using the first memory in a normal mode, and a sub-controller disposed in the second power domain and perform a control operation using the second memory in a power-saving mode, where when the normal mode is changed to the power-saving mode a power supply to the first power domain is shut off, the first memory operates in a self-refresh mode, and the main controller copies central processing unit (CPU) context information into a context storage unit, and when the power-saving mode is changed to the normal mode, the main controller is booted using the CPU context information stored in the context storage unit.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119 from KoreanPatent Application No. 10-2010-0083540, filed on Aug. 27, 2010, in theKorean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present general inventive concept generally relates to an imageforming apparatus, a system-on-chip (SoC) unit, and a driving methodthereof, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus having apower-saving mode, an SoC unit, and a driving method thereof.

2. Description of the Related Art

Demands for low power of all electronic products have been graduallyreinforced. If there are no actions against these demands, it will beimpossible to sell electronic products due to the regulations in spiteof their strong points of performances and prices.

Current specs of Energy Star require power consumption less than orequal to a range between 1 W and 2 W in a wait mode according to thetypes of devices. Power consumption of 1 W or less will be required evenin a wait mode in which a network service is possible. In order toachieve this, all electronic companies utilize several methods.

Also, a device must not inconvenience a consumer depending on whetherthe device is in a low power mode or a normal operation mode.

In order to achieve a low power wait mode, most companies utilize amethod of providing a service through a high-performance main centralprocessing unit (CPU) in a normal mode, switching off unnecessary powerof the high-performance main CPU and a system through a low powerauxiliary CPU when the system goes into a wait mode under a specificcondition, monitoring a service request through the low power auxiliaryCPU, and when a user requests a service, applying power to thehigh-performance main CPU and auxiliary circuits to provide the serviceto the user.

For example, a conventional system uses a method of allocating powersupply lines to first and second power domains, respectively, to managea power source and then shutting off a power supply to the first powerdomain which does not need to operate in a low power mode service.

Therefore, if a condition of a change from a normal mode to a low powermode is satisfied, the conventional system performs a change to the lowpower mode, shuts off a power supply to the first power domain through asub-controller, and goes into the low power mode.

In the conventional system, a main controller and a dynamic randomaccess memory (DRAM) are turned off when the first domain is turned off.Thus, all data of the DRAM is lost, and the main controller is rebooted.Therefore, since a process of going from a power-saving mode into anormal mode according to a service request is performed equal to aninitial system booting process, 10 seconds or more are required inconventional systems.

If a network link is gone out for 15 seconds or more after a printerrequests printing from a network, an error message is displayed to auser.

If a multifunction peripheral does not respond to a button click of apanel, which is performed for a scan operation, within several seconds,a consumer doubts a performance of the multifunction peripheral in spiteof the achievement of low power.

SUMMARY

The present general inventive concept provides an image formingapparatus which can shorten a rebooting time in a power-saving mode, asystem-on-chip (SoC) unit, and a driving method.

Additional embodiments of the present general inventive concept will beset forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will beobvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of thegeneral inventive concept.

Exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept mayprovide an image forming apparatus which is connected to a host devicehaving first and second power domains which are separately supplied withpower through different power supply lines, including first and secondmemories disposed in the second power domain, a main controller disposedin the first power domain to perform a control operation using the firstmemory in a normal mode, a sub-controller disposed in the second powerdomain to perform a control operation using the second memory in apower-saving mode; and a context storage unit to store contextinformation, wherein a power supply to the first power domain is shutoff when the normal mode is changed to the power-saving mode, the firstmemory operates in a self-refresh mode when the normal mode is changedto the power-saving mode, and the main controller copies centralprocessing unit (CPU) context information, which is lost when shuttingoff the power supply to the first power domain, into the context storageunit when the normal mode is changed to the power-saving mode, and themain controller is booted using the CPU context information stored inthe context storage unit when the power-saving mode is changed to thenormal mode.

The image forming apparatus may further include a power supply unit tosupply power to the first and second power domains, and a processcontroller to control the power supply unit to shut off the power supplyto the first power domain when the normal mode is changed to thepower-saving mode.

The image forming apparatus may further include a data receiver toreceive image data from the outside, a data processor to process thereceived image data, and an engine unit to perform an image forming jobwith the processed image data, where the engine unit and the dataprocessor are disposed in the first power domain, and the data receiveris disposed in the second power domain.

When the normal mode is changed to the power-saving mode, the maincontroller may copy CPU context information, which is lost when shuttingoff the power supply to the first power domain, and context informationof elements of the first power domain into the context storage unit.

The image forming apparatus may further include when a booting operationis performed, a booting mode determiner to determine whether the bootingoperation is performed in the normal mode or whether a re-bootingoperation is performed in the power-saving mode, wherein when thebooting operation is the re-booting operation performed in thepower-saving mode, the main controller is booted using the CPU contextinformation stored in the context storage unit.

When the normal mode is changed to the power-saving mode, the maincontroller may change a clock speed and a network link speed for thepower-saving mode and set the image forming apparatus to a power-savingmode service.

The first and second power domains may be included in a system-on-chip(SoC).

The context storage unit may be at least one of the first memory, thesecond memory, and a static random access memory (SRAM) and a registerwhich are disposed separately from the first and second memories whichare disposed in the second power domain.

Exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept may alsoprovide a system-on-chip (SoC) unit which can be installed in anelectronic device having first and second power domains which areseparately supplied with power through different power supply lines,including first and second memories disposed in the second power domain,a main controller disposed in the first power domain and to perform acontrol operation using the first memory in a normal mode, asub-controller disposed in the second power domain and to perform acontrol operation using the second memory in a power-saving mode, and acontext storage unit to store context information, wherein a powersupply to the first power domain is shut off when the normal mode ischanged to the power-saving mode, the first memory operates in aself-refresh mode when the normal mode is changed to the power-savingmode, and the main controller copies lost central processing unit (CPU)context information, which is lost when shutting off the power supply tothe first power domain, into the context storage unit when the normalmode is changed to the power-saving mode, and the main controller isbooted using the CPU context information stored in the context storageunit when the power-saving mode is changed to the normal mode.

The context storage unit may be realized as at least one of the firstmemory, the second memory, and a SRAM and a register which are disposedseparately from the first and second memories which are disposed in thesecond power domain.

Exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept may alsoprovide a method of driving an image forming apparatus which isconnected to a host device and the image forming apparatus includesfirst and second power domains which are separately supplied with powerthrough different power supply lines, where the second power domainincludes first and second memories, a sub-controller to perform acontrol operation using the second memory in a power-saving mode, and acontext storage unit to store context information, and the first powerdomain includes a main controller to shut off a power supply theretowhen the normal mode is changed to the power-saving mode and perform acontrol operation using the first memory in the normal mode, the methodincluding changing the first memory to a self-refresh mode when thenormal mode is changed to the power-saving mode and copying lost CPUcontext information, which is lost when shutting off a power supply tothe first power domain, into the context storage unit; and booting themain controller using the CPU context information stored in the contextstorage unit when the power-saving mode is changed to the normal mode.

The method may further include supplying power to the first and secondpower domains, and when the normal mode is changed to the power-savingmode, controlling a power supply to shut off the power supplied to thefirst power domain.

The method may further include receiving image data from the outsidewith the image forming apparatus, processing the received image data,and performing an image forming job with the processed image data, wherethe first power domain further comprises a data processing module toprocess the image data and an engine module to perform the image formingjob, and the second power domain further comprises a data receivingmodule to receive the image data

The copying of the context information may include copying the CPUcontext information, which is lost when shutting off the power supply tothe first power domain, and copying context information of elements ofthe first power domain into the context storage unit when the normalmode is changed to the power-saving mode.

The method may further include when a booting operation is performed,determining whether the booting operation is performed in the normalmode or whether the booting operation is a rebooting operation that isperformed in the power-saving mode, where when the booting operation isthe rebooting operation performed in the power-saving mode, the maincontroller is booted using the CPU context information stored in thecontext storage unit.

The main controller may change a clock speed and a network line speedfor the power-saving mode and sets the image forming apparatus to apower-saving mode service when the normal mode is changed to thepower-saving mode.

The first and second power domains may be included in a system-on-chip(SoC).

The context storage unit may be at least one of the first memory, thesecond memory, and a SRAM and a register which are, disposed separatelyfrom the first and second memories which are disposed in the secondpower domain.

Exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept may alsoprovide a method of driving a SoC unit which is connected to a hostdevice and includes first and second power domains which are separatelysupplied with power through different power supply lines, where thesecond power domain includes first and second memories, a sub-controllerto perform a control operation using the second memory in a power-savingmode, and a context storage unit to store context information, and thefirst power domain includes a main controller to shut off a power supplythereto when a normal mode is changed to the power-saving mode andperform a control operation using the first memory in the normal mode,the method including when the normal mode is changed to the power-savingmode, changing the first memory to a self-refresh mode and coping CPUcontext information, which is lost when shutting off the power supply tothe first power domain, into the context storage unit, and when thepower-saving mode is changed to the normal mode, booting the maincontroller using the CPU context information stored in the contextstorage unit.

Exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept may alsoprovide a storage medium having embodied thereon a program code toexecute the method of driving the image forming apparatus.

As described above, according to exemplary embodiments of the presentgeneral inventive concept, a return time from a power-saving mode to anormal mode can be effectively shortened.

Exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept alsoprovide a method of driving an image forming apparatus that operates ina normal mode and a power-saving mode, the method including changing afirst memory of the image forming apparatus to a self-refresh mode whenthe normal mode is changed to the power-saving mode, copying processorcontext information of a processor into a context storage unit of theimage forming apparatus, and booting a main controller of the imageforming apparatus using the processor context information stored in thecontext storage unit when the power-saving mode is changed to the normalmode.

Exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept alsoprovide a method of driving an image forming apparatus that operates ina normal mode and a power-saving mode, the method including copyingprocessor context information of a processor into a context storage unitof the image forming apparatus, controlling a change from the normalmode to the power-saving mode with a first controller and a secondcontroller so as to operate the image forming apparatus with reducedpower from a power supply, changing a first memory of the image formingapparatus to a self-refresh mode when the when the normal mode ischanged to the power-saving mode, and switching off power to a firstpower domain of the image forming apparatus that includes the firstcontroller when the normal mode is changed to the power-saving mode.

The method may also include booting a main controller of the imageforming apparatus using the processor context information stored in thecontext storage unit when the power-saving mode is changed to the normalmode.

Exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept alsoprovide an image forming apparatus that operates in a normal mode and apower-saving mode, including a first memory having a self-refresh modewhen the normal mode is changed to the power-saving mode, a contextstorage unit to store copied processor context information of aprocessor of the image forming apparatus, and a main controller that isbooted with the processor context information stored in the contextstorage unit when the power-saving mode is changed to the normal mode.

Exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept alsoprovide an image forming apparatus that operates in a normal mode and apower-saving mode, including a context storage unit to store copiedprocessor context information of a processor of the image formingapparatus, a first controller and a second controller to control achange from the normal mode to the power-saving mode so as to operatethe image forming apparatus with reduced power from a power supply, anda first memory having a self-refresh mode when the normal mode ischanged to the power-saving mode, where the first controller switchesoff power to a first power domain of the image forming apparatus whenthe normal mode is changed to the power-saving mode.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other embodiments and utilities of the present generalinventive concept will become apparent and more readily appreciated fromthe following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an image forming apparatusaccording to exemplary embodiments of the present general inventiveconcept;

FIG. 1A illustrates an image forming apparatus communicatively coupledto a host device according to exemplary embodiments of the presentgeneral inventive concept;

FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating a structure of an image formingapparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present generalinventive concept;

FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating a structure of an image formingapparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present generalinventive concept;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of driving an image formingapparatus according to an exemplary embodiments of the present generalinventive concept;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of changing an image formingapparatus from a normal mode to a power-saving mode according toexemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept; and

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of booting an image formingapparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present generalinventive concept.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the presentgeneral inventive concept, examples of which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to likeelements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order toexplain the present general inventive concept by referring to thefigures.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of an image formingapparatus 100, and FIG. 1A illustrates the image forming apparatus 100communicatively coupled to a host device 170 according to exemplaryembodiments of the present general inventive concept.

Referring to FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 100 can include a datareceiver 105, a main controller 110, a first memory 115, asub-controller 120, a second memory 125, a power supply unit 130, afunctional unit 135, an engine unit 140, a context storage unit 145, anda central processing unit 160.

The image forming apparatus 100 may be a printer, a copier, a scanner, afacsimile machine, a multifunction peripheral (MFP) which includescombined functions of the printer, copier, and facsimile in one device,or the like. The central processing unit (CPU) 160 may becommunicatively coupled to at least the main controller 110 and/or thesub-controller 120. The CPU 160 may be a processor, field programmablegate array, programmable logic device, an application specificintegrated circuit, and/or any suitable processor to carry out theexemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept. The CPU160 may control, for example, copy, printing, scanning, and facsimileoperations of the image forming apparatus 100.

The image forming apparatus 100 may include first and second powerdomains PD1 and PD2 which are separately supplied with power throughdifferent power supply lines. Here, a power domain refers to an areawhich is supplied with power through the same power supply line.

The second power domain PD2 can include the first and memories 115 and125, the sub-controller 120, and the context storage unit 145, and thefirst power domain PD1 includes the main controller 110.

The first power domain PD1 can include the functional unit 135 and theengine unit 140, and the second power domain PD2 further includes thedata receiver 105.

That is, the first power domain PD1 can include the main controller 110,the functional unit 135, and the engine unit 140 that are supplied by afirst power supply line, and the second power domain PD2 can include thedata receiver 105, first memory 115, the sub-controller 120, the secondmemory 125, and the context storage unit 145 are supplied by a secondpower supply line that is different from the first power supply line.

The data receiver 105 can perform a data communication with at least oneexternal device. Here, the at least one external device may be a hostdevice such as a personal computer or the like, or may be a userterminal device such as a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant(PDA), a universal serial bus (USB), or the like. The external deviceand/or host device may be the host device 170 as illustrated in FIG. 1A.The host device 170 may be communicatively coupled to the image formingapparatus via a wired and/or wireless communications link.

The main controller 110 can control the operation of the image formingapparatus 100, and, in particular, can perform a control operation in anormal mode using the first memory 115, which will be described later.The main controller 110 may receive operation instructions and/orcommands from the central processing unit (CPU) 160. For example, theCPU 160 may provide the main controller 110 with a request signal for animage forming job. When a request signal for an image forming job isinput in a power-saving mode, the main controller 110 changes thepower-saving mode to the normal mode to activate the first memory 115and perform a corresponding operation using the activated first memory115. That is, when a request signal for an image forming job is receivedwhen the image forming apparatus 100 and/or the main controller 110 isin a power-saving mode, the main controller 110 can change thepower-saving mode to the normal mode and perform the operation asrequested by the received signal.

In particular, when the normal mode is changed to the power-saving mode,the main controller 110 can copy context information (e.g., data and/orstate information of the main controller 110 that may otherwise be lostwhen power is no longer supplied to the main controller 110) into thecontext storage unit 145. When the power-saving mode is changed to thenormal mode, the main controller 110 can be booted using the contextinformation stored in the context storage unit 145. Here, the contextinformation may be central processing unit (CPU) context information(e.g., the context information of CPU 160) which may be lost when apower supply to the first power domain PD is shut off. The contextinformation may also include context information of other elements(e.g., the context information of the main controller 110, thesub-controller 120, the functional unit 135, etc.) which is lost whenthe power supply to the first power domain PD1 is shut off.

The sub-controller 120 can perform a control operation using the secondmemory 125 in the power-saving mode.

In more detail, the sub-controller 120 can perform an operationaccording to a preset signal using the second memory 125 whenmaintaining the power-saving mode. The preset signal may be a staterequest signal of an image forming apparatus which is input through anapplication of a host device (e.g., host device 170 illustrated in FIG.1A) in a maintainable state of a power-saving mode. For example, thepreset signal may be a signal which is input and/or received through asmart panel of the host device 170. Here, the smart panel may a panel ofthe host device 170 which displays a state of the image formingapparatus, e.g., may periodically check the state of the image formingapparatus through a USB control communication. A user may check aprinting state, a paper state, a toner state, a power on/off state ofthe image forming apparatus through the smart panel in the host device170. That is, the smart panel of the host device 170 may be a touchscreen display to receive one or more selections, and to display thestate of the image forming apparatus (e.g., the printing state, thepaper state, the toner state, the power on/off state, etc.).

Here, the normal mode refers to a mode in which the image formingapparatus 100 performs a normal operation (e.g., a print operation, acopy operation, a scanning operation, etc.), and the power-saving moderefers to an operation mode which is to shut off or minimize powersupplied to most modules in order to minimize power consumed when asystem (or the image forming apparatus 100) does not perform anyoperation.

A predetermined low wait power (less than or equal to 1 W) may beprovided in a power-saving mode according to exemplary embodiments ofthe present general inventive concept. A main memory (in general, anexternal dynamic random access memory (DRAM)) may be set to aself-refresh mode, and a program may be driven in an unused internalmemory of a system-on-chip (SoC). For example, a static random accessmemory (SRAM) may use a small capacity memory of about 128 KB. However,a synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) may be used or a read only memory (ROM) maybe used together with a SRAM or SDRAM.

The first memory 115 may be a main memory used in an operation of thenormal mode. In exemplary embodiments of the present general inventiveconcept, the first memory 115 may be a non-volatile memory. For example,a dynamic RAM (DRAM) or the like may correspond to the non-volatilememory.

The first memory 115 can be maintained in a self-refresh mode when thenormal mode is changed to the power-saving mode. That is, power may beapplied to the first memory 115 in the power-saving mode as to refreshthe memory (i.e., maintain the data stored in the first memory 115).

The second memory 125 can be used in an operation of the power-savingmode, which is driven at a predetermined low power, rather than in thenormal mode. For example, a program to control the power-saving mode maydetermine whether a signal has been input to the data receiver 105, mayperform an operation according to a received USB control signal, and mayperform a wake-up operation to change the power-saving mode to thenormal mode.

The second memory 125 can store a program, an application, and the likewhich can support the power-saving mode. The second memory 125 can beatleast one of a SRAM and a SDRAM. Alternatively, the second memory 125may be a RDRAM (Rambus Dynamic Random Access Memory), a DRAM, a doubledata rate-SDRAM (DDR-SDRAM), or the like.

In exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept, atleast one of a ROM and a flash memory may be used to storecontroller-executable codes for a power-saving mode (e.g., codes thatare executable by the main controller 110 and/or the sub-controller120).

According to exemplary embodiments of the present general inventiveconcept, the second memory 125 may be a SRAM. In this case, the SRAM maybe used to copy and execute codes which are stored in a DRAM, a ROM, ora flash memory to operate the power-saving mode.

Alternatively, the second memory 125 may be a SRAM and may execute codeswhich are stored in a ROM, a flash memory, or the like to operate thepower-saving mode.

The second memory 125 may a SDRAM and may be used to execute codes whichare stored in a ROM, a flash memory, or the like to operate thepower-saving mode.

The second memory 125 may be used together with the first memory 115 inthe operation of the normal mode. In other words, a SRAM that mayoperate as a buffer when an image is processed in the normal mode may bere-used as the second memory 125 in the power-saving mode.

The main controller 110 can change the first memory 115 to theself-refresh mode when the main controller 110 changes the normal modeto the power-saving mode.

Hereinafter, characteristics of each memory will be described in brieffor understanding of the present general inventive concept.

A SRAM can maintain data thereof when power is being supplied thereto.The SRAM can maintain the data thereof through one-time writing (e.g.,maintain the data without a periodical re-writing operation). The SRAMcan be a small capacity memory and has a very fast and/or increasedoperation speed but is generally more expensive than a DRAM. Therefore,the SRAM can be used in an apparatus for a memory having a predeterminedfast speed and a predetermined small capacity like a cache memory.

Differently from the SRAM, the DRAM may be continuously re-written inone or more operations to maintain data thereof. Therefore, the DRAM istypically has a larger capacity memory than the SRAM, but may berelatively slower than the SRAM. Dram may be used as a main memory inmost systems.

A SDRAM may synchronously operate by synchronizing with a system clock(e.g., a system clock of the image forming apparatus 100). Since theSDRAM may operate depending on the system clock, (e.g., operate at atypical system bus speed of 200 MHz), the SDRAM can increase a systemspeed (e.g., can increase in speed as the clock speed increases).

The power supply unit 130 can supply power to the image formingapparatus 100.

In more detail, the power supply unit 130 can supply power to the firstand second power domains PD1 and PD2 in the normal mode. In thepower-saving mode, the power supply unit 130 can shut off a power supplyto the first power domain PD1 but can supply power to the second powerdomain PD2. That is, in the power-saving mode, the power supply unit 130can supply power to the second power domain PD2, but may not supplypower to the first power domain PD1.

In exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept, themain controller 110 and the sub-controller 120 can control the imageforming apparatus 100. As described above, the main controller 110and/or the sub-controller may receive one or more printing operationcommands, scanning operation commands, and copying operation commandsfrom the CPU 160. Alternatively, first and second CPUs (not illustrated)may respectively transmit commands to first and second controllers (notillustrated) so that elements of the image forming apparatus 100 performcorresponding operations. The commands generated by the first and secondCPUs and/or the first and second controllers may be received by the maincontroller 110 and/or the sub-controller 120. The main controller 110and/or the sub-controller 120 may control, for example, the engine unit140 to perform an image forming job according to the commands receivedfrom the first and second CPUs and/or the first and second controllers.

The image forming apparatus 100 according to exemplary embodiments ofthe present general inventive concept may include a phase-locked loop(PLL) unit to generate one or more different operating frequencies(e.g., so as to carry out one or more image forming jobs, such ascopying, scanning, and printing). The PLL unit may provide the generatedoperating frequencies to the main controller 110, the sub-controller120, the first memory 115, and the second memory 125.

The functional unit 135 can perform one or more functions, such as afunction of processing an image, a function of compressing the image,and a function of decompressing the image, which are to be processed sothat the engine unit 140 performs image forming jobs such as printing,copying, scanning jobs, etc.

An operation module (not illustrated) may include one or more functionalmodules which may not included in the functional unit 135 because of apredetermined capacity of the functional unit 135. The operation modulemay include at least one or more functional modules, each of which maybe a single chip.

If the main controller 110 satisfies preset conditions, the maincontroller 110 may change the normal mode to the power-saving mode. Forexample, a preset condition may be to change from the normal mode to thepower-saving mode after a preset amount of time has elapsed without themain controller 110 receiving a command. However, this is only anexample, but various cases may exist in a mode change event.

When the normal mode is to be changed to the power-saving mode asdescribed above, the main controller 110 may copy a program to controlthe power-saving mode from the first memory 115 into an executable areaof the second memory 125, or may copy a program stored in a ROM, a flashmemory, or the like into the executable area of the second memory 125.Therefore, the main controller 110 can have a smaller capacity than aUSB program which is used in the normal mode and stored in the firstmemory 115. When the codes are completely copied, the main controller110 can shut off the power supply to the first power domain PD1 and mayoperate in the power-saving mode.

Codes may be copied that are stored in a flash memory or a ROM into aDRAM during booting, and/or codes may be copies into a SRAM whenentering the power-saving mode.

When the operating state of the sub-controller 120 satisfies one or morepreset conditions, the sub-controller 120 can change the power-savingmode to the normal mode. For example, when an event such as a panel keyinput, a printing service request, a fax ring, or the like is receivedby the image forming apparatus 100, the sub-controller 120 may changethe power-saving mode to the normal mode.

The main controller 110, the function unit 135, the engine unit 140, thedata receiver 105, the first memory 115, the sub-controller 120, and thesecond memory 125 may be integrated into a single chip such as anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chip, a fieldprogrammable gate array, and/or a programmable logic device so as to bea SoC.

In general, a booting time (which may include an initialization of aDRAM (not illustrated) in a booting process, copying of codes from a ROMto the DRAM, initializing one or more components of the image formingapparatus 100, booting of an operating system (OS), a start of a serviceprogram, etc.) when a power-saving mode returns to a normal mode may beequal to an initial booting time. The power of a main controller (notillustrated) and a DRAM (not illustrated) may be turned off when powerto the first power domain (e.g., including the main controller and theDRAM) is turned off. When power is turned on so as to power the maincontroller and the DRAM, the booting may be the same process as theinitial booting process when applying power as described above.

However, according to exemplary embodiments of the present generalinventive concept, the first memory 115 used in the normal mode can bedisposed in the second power domain PD2 which is separately suppliedwith power through a different power supply line from that through whichthe first power domain PD1 is supplied with power. Therefore, the normalmode can be changed to the self-refresh mode by maintaining power of thefirst memory 115 without shutting off the power of the first memory 115so as to maintain contents of the first memory 115. Accordingly,although power of the DRAM is not switched off, power between 1 W and 2W may be lowered to 200 mW or less in order to achieve a predeterminedlow power.

Although data stored in the first memory 115 is maintained, power of thefirst power domain PD1 is switched off. That is, power can be re-appliedto the first power domain PD1 after the power of the first domain PD1 isswitched off. Therefore, performance contexts and/or operation stateinformation of the main controller 110 may be lost. For example, if themain controller 110 is an asynchronous response mode (ARM), theperformance contexts and/or operation state information may include aregister set, a state register, set values of information provider (IP)blocks of the SoC, and the like. An ARM CPU typically has a similarclock to a CPU of a desktop PC but consumes power between about 40 mWand 450 mW.

According to the image forming apparatus 100 of FIG. 1, when changingfrom the normal mode to the power-saving mode, the main controller 110can store performance context information of the main controller 110,the functional unit 135, the engine unit 140, and the like, which aretypically lost when shutting off the power supply to the first powerdomain PD1, into the context storage unit 145 of the second power domainPD2. As the image forming apparatus 100 returns to a state before thenormal mode is changed to the power-saving mode by using contexts storedin the context storage unit 145 during rebooting, the image formingapparatus 100 can be rebooted at an increased rate.

The context storage unit 145 may be an additional register, a SRAM, orthe like which is disposed in the second power domain PD2.Alternatively, the context storage unit 145 may be the first memory 125.In other words, the first memory 115 can be changed to the self-refreshmode, and CPU contexts can be stored in the context storage unit 145,thereby maintaining information to return to a previous mode.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating a structure of an image formingapparatus 200 according to exemplary embodiments of the present generalinventive concept.

Referring to FIG. 2A, the image forming apparatus 200 can include a datareceiver 205, a main controller 210, a first memory 215, asub-controller 220, a second memory 225, a power supply unit 230, afunctional unit 235, an engine unit 240, a context storage unit 245, abooting mode determiner 250, a process controller 255, and a centralprocessing unit (CPU) 260.

In other words, the image forming apparatus 200 of FIG. 2A can includethe booting mode determiner 250 and the process controller 255 which maybe different from the image forming apparatus 100 of FIG. 1. Forconvenience, detailed descriptions of the same elements of FIG. 2A asthose of FIG. 1 will be omitted.

When booting is performed, the booting mode determiner 250 can determinewhether the booting is performed in a normal mode or is rebootingperformed in a power-saving mode.

When the booting mode determiner 250 can determine that the booting isthe re-booting performed in the power-saving mode, the main controller210 can recover a CPU operation mode register and a state register fromthe context storage unit 245 and can return to a last performance pointso as to boot within a time of several ms (e.g., 2 ms, 4 ms, 6 ms, 10ms, etc.).

The booting mode determiner 250 may store a booting mode using aregister and determine the booting mode through an input of an externalgeneral purpose input/output (GPIO) pin or the like. That is, thebooting mode determiner 250 may receive an input, and may determine abooting mode according to the received input.

Therefore, a reset vector (e.g., a predetermined location in the firstmemory 115 and/or the second memory 125, or any other suitable memory,that the main controller 210 may go to find the first instruction to beexecuted after a reset) can be re-performed in the main controller 210to minimize and/or prevent the booting from being performed equal to asystem power applying booting process.

When the booting is performed in the power-saving when the power-savingmode is changed to the normal mode, the first memory 215 may exit aself-refresh mode. Therefore, the main controller 210 may terminate theself-refresh mode of the first memory 215 when the main controller 210is booted or the sub-controller 220 may terminate the self-refresh modeof the first memory 215.

The process controller 255 can perform a control of the sub-controller220 when entering the power-saving mode.

In more detail, when the normal mode is changed to the power-savingmode, the process controller 255 can change the first memory 115 to theself-refresh mode and can shut off a power supply to a first powerdomain PD1.

The process controller 255 can perform booting control of the maincontroller 210 and the sub-controller 220.

In the exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive conceptillustrated in FIG. 2A, the data receiver 205, the main controller 210,the first memory 215, the sub-controller 220, the second memory 225, thepower supply unit 230, the functional unit 235, the engine unit 240, thecontext storage unit 245, the booting mode determiner 250, and theprocess controller 255 may be a SoC.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating a structure of an image formingapparatus 200′ according to exemplary embodiments of the present generalinventive concept.

Referring to FIG. 2B, the image forming apparatus 200′ can include afirst SoC SoC1 which includes a main controller 210, a functional unit235, and an engine unit 240 and a second SoC SoC2 which includes a datareceiver 205, a sub-controller 220, and a second memory 225. The imageforming apparatus 200′ can also include a central processing unit (CPU)260 that is communicatively coupled to at least the main controller 210and/or the sub-controller 220.

A first memory 215, a process controller 255, a context storage unit245, and a booting mode determiner 250 can be disposed outside the firstand second SoCs SoC1 and SoC2.

In exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept, whenthe normal mode is changed to the power-saving mode, the sub-controller220 can be reset, can store a micro-firmware for a power-saving modeservice in the second memory 225, and can operate in a power-savingmode.

According to exemplary embodiments of the present general inventiveconcept, a SoC unit which can be installed in an electronic device mayinclude first and second power domains which are separately suppliedwith power through different power supply lines. The second domain mayinclude first and second memories, a sub-controller which performs acontrol operation using the second memory in a power-saving mode, and acontext storage unit which stores context information. The first powerdomain may include a main controller which performs a control operationusing the first memory in a normal mode, copies the context informationinto the context storage unit when the normal mode is changed to thepower-saving mode, and can be booted using the context informationstored in the context storage unit when the power-saving mode is changedto the normal mode.

The image forming apparatuses 100, 200, 200′ of FIGS. 1, 2A, and 2B witha host device (e.g., host device 170 illustrated in FIG. 1A) will now bedescribed in brief.

The host device (e.g., host device 170 illustrated in FIG. 1A) may be aPC, a PDA, a portable multimedia player (PMP), a TV, a server, etc.

The host device can include an application (not illustrated) and a hostcontroller (not illustrated).

The application may be software which supports one or more datacommunications in an operating system (OS).

The host controller may include software and/or hardware such that theimage forming apparatuses 100, 200, and 200′ can be combined with thehost device.

The host device may include a printer driver (not illustrated) whichconverts printing data written in and/or generated by the applicationinto a printer language which can be interpreted by the image formingapparatuses 100, 200, and 200′. Here, the printer driver may be includedin the host controller. The host device may include an input unit (notillustrated), a display unit (not illustrated), and the like.

Elements of FIGS. 1, 2A, and 2B and their disposition orders, selection,and/or arrangements are exemplary embodiments of the present generalinventive concept, and thus one or more of the elements may be removedand/or another element may be added and the disposition orders may bechanged.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of driving an image formingapparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present generalinventive concept.

Referring to FIG. 3, when preset conditions are satisfied at operationS310, a main controller can prepare an entry into a power-saving mode atoperation S320. Here, the preset conditions may refer to a performancestate of an image forming job such as printing and/or scanning, and astate after a predetermined pause time or more elapses when the imageforming job is completely performed.

An operation of preparing the entry into the power-saving mode can be anoperation of a sub-controller to install micro-codes to perform apower-saving mode service in a power-saving mode service memory, stopinterrupt controller backup and service, and perform various pre-jobs tochange a normal mode to the power-saving mode such as a stoppage of amain timer or the like.

If the operation of entering into the power-saving mode is completelyperformed at operation S320, the main controller backs up performancecontext information thereof in a context storage unit at operation S330.In this case, since cache information of the main controller can be lostwhen power is switched on, the cache information may be reflected on aDRAM through a cache flush.

The main controller can request a change from the normal mode to thepower-saving mode from the sub-controller at operation S340. In otherwords, the main controller can inform the sub-controller of a start of apower-saving mode service and can wait until power thereof is switchedoff.

The sub-controller can start the power-saving mode service under thecontrol of the main controller at operation S350. In this case, thesub-controller may change a clock speed and a network link speed for thepower-saving mode and set the image forming apparatus to a predeterminedlow power service of the power-saving mode service.

The sub-controller can change the DRAM to a self-refresh mode to operateat wait power of 1 W or less at operation S360. This may be performed bythe sub-controller but may be performed by the main controller usingcache locking or a SRAM (e.g., a space which is not a DRAM).

Before going into the power-saving mode service, power of a first powerdomain can be switched off to start the power-saving mode service at await power of 1 W or less at operation S370. When the image formingapparatus goes into this state, only a minimum number of blocksbelonging to a second power domain, such as a data receiver, a contextstorage unit, and the like, consume power so as to provide a low powermode.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a method of changing an imageforming apparatus from a normal mode to a power-saving mode according toexemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept.

Referring to FIG. 4, a power-saving mode service can be performed atoperation S410. A determination can be made as to whether a mode changehas been requested at operation S420. When it is determined that themode change has been requested at operation S420-Y, i.e., a request foran image forming job service is received, a sub-controller can return toan image forming service mode (e.g., that may be part of a normaloperation mode).

The sub-controller can cancel a self-refresh mode of a DRAM at operationS430.

The sub-controller can designate a booting mode of a main controller asa power-saving booting mode so that the main controller determines thatthe booting mode is the power-saving booting mode, not a normal bootingmode during a return to the power-saving booting mode at operation S440.The designation of the booting mode may be set during returning orduring a process of going into a power-saving mode.

Power can be supplied to a first power domain at operation S450. Inother words, the power can be applied to the first power domain to bootthe main controller.

A reset of the main controller can be canceled at operation S460. Thismay be performed through the process controller 255 illustrated in FIGS.2A-2B.

Therefore, the main controller can perform booting. Operations S450 andS460 may be integrated into one operation in a system in which a resetof a main controller can be automatically cancelled when applying power.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of booting an image formingapparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present generalinventive concept.

Referring to FIG. 5, a determination can be made as to whether bootingis performed in a normal mode or is rebooting performed in apower-saving mode at operation S510.

When it is determined that the booting is performed in the normal modeat operation S510-Y, a clock/DRAM can be set at operation S520, one ormore hardware components of the image forming apparatus can be set anddriven at operation S530, and an OS can be loaded and driven atoperation S540. A normal mode service can be performed at operationS550.

When it is determined that the booting is the rebooting performed in thepower-saving mode at operation S510-N, context information stored in acontext storage unit can be recovered to perform the booting. Therefore,a register of each mode may be recovered, and a PC value may be moved toa previous performance point, thereby returning to a service performancestate before going into a low power mode.

In other words, a DRAM can be in a self-refresh mode (e.g., not in apower-off mode), and thus may exit out of the self-refresh mode. In thiscase, a main controller may approach the DRAM, and all types ofinformation generated before going into the low power mode may be storedin the DRAM. However, CPU contexts, i.e., register information andstatus register information may be lost, and thus may not be immediatelyrecovered. Information stored in a context storage unit may be recoveredto perform booting.

Here, the context information may include CPU contexts and CPU coreswhich can be lost when switching off power and a minimum number ofregisters (e.g., registers of memory in a CPU). As the DRAM may be inthe self-refresh mode, the context information may be stored in an areaof a SRAM or a DRAM of a SoC to perform storage and recover at a time(e.g., where the recovery time may be hundreds of microseconds (e.g.,500 μs, 400 μs, 300 μs, 200 μs, etc.) or less (e.g., 50 μs, 20 μs, 10μs, etc.)).

According to the present general inventive concept as described above, arecovery time of an image forming apparatus may be effectively shortenedand/or decreased when the image forming apparatus returns from apower-saving mode to a normal mode. For example, a recovery time fromdozens of seconds to several minutes may be shortened to within a rangeof several ms.

The present general inventive concept can also be embodied ascomputer-readable codes on a computer-readable medium. Thecomputer-readable medium can include a computer-readable recordingmedium and a computer-readable transmission medium. Thecomputer-readable recording medium is any data storage device that canstore data as a program which can be thereafter read by a computersystem. Examples of the computer-readable recording medium includeread-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), CD-ROMs, magnetictapes, floppy disks, and optical data storage devices. Thecomputer-readable recording medium can also be distributed over networkcoupled computer systems so that the computer-readable code is storedand executed in a distributed fashion. The computer-readabletransmission medium can be transmitted through carrier waves or signals(e.g., wired or wireless data transmission through the Internet). Also,functional programs, codes, and code segments to accomplish the presentgeneral inventive concept can be easily construed by programmers skilledin the art to which the present general inventive concept pertains.

Exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept may beapplied to various communication ways, e.g., a network communication, aUSB, Bluetooth, high definition multimedia interface (HDMI), peripheralcomponent interconnect (PCI) express, Ethernet, ZigBee, Firewire, CAN,ZigBee, IEEE 1394, PS/2, accelerated graphics port (AGP), industrystandard architecture (ISA), video electronics standard architecture(VESA), or the like.

In the above-described exemplary embodiments, an image forming apparatushas been exemplarily described, but this is only an example, and thusthe same principle and structure may be applied to other electronicdevices to which the spirit of the present general inventive concept maybe applied.

Although several example embodiments of the present general inventiveconcept have been illustrated and described, it will be appreciated bythose skilled in the art that changes may be made in these exampleembodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of thegeneral inventive concept, the scope of which is defined in the appendedclaims and their equivalents.

1. An image forming apparatus which is connected to a host device havingfirst and second power domains which are separately supplied with powerthrough different power supply lines, comprising: first and secondmemories disposed in the second power domain; a main controller disposedin the first power domain to perform a control operation using the firstmemory in a normal mode; a sub-controller disposed in the second powerdomain to perform a control operation using the second memory in apower-saving mode; and a context storage unit to store contextinformation, wherein a power supply to the first power domain is shutoff when the normal mode is changed to the power-saving mode, the firstmemory operates in a self-refresh mode when the normal mode is changedto the power-saving mode, and the main controller copies centralprocessing unit (CPU) context information, which is lost when shuttingoff the power supply to the first power domain, into the context storageunit when the normal mode is changed to the power-saving mode, and themain controller is booted using the CPU context information stored inthe context storage unit when the power-saving mode is changed to thenormal mode.
 2. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1,further comprising: a power supply unit to supply power to the first andsecond power domains; and a process controller to control the powersupply unit to shut off the power supply to the first power domain whenthe normal mode is changed to the power-saving mode.
 3. The imageforming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: a datareceiver to receive image data from the outside; a data processor toprocess the received image data; and an engine unit to perform an imageforming job with the processed image data, wherein the engine unit andthe data processor are disposed in the first power domain, and the datareceiver is disposed in the second power domain.
 4. The image formingapparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein when the normal mode is changedto the power-saving mode, the main controller copies CPU contextinformation, which is lost when shutting off the power supply to thefirst power domain, and context information of elements of the firstpower domain into the context storage unit.
 5. The image formingapparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: when a bootingoperation is performed, a booting mode determiner to determine whetherthe booting operation is performed in the normal mode or whether are-booting operation is performed in the power-saving mode, wherein whenthe booting operation is the re-booting operation performed in thepower-saving mode, the main controller is booted using the CPU contextinformation stored in the context storage unit.
 6. The image formingapparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein when the normal mode is changedto the power-saving mode, the main controller changes a clock speed anda network link speed for the power-saving mode and sets the imageforming apparatus to a power-saving mode service.
 7. The image formingapparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the context storage unit is atleast one of the first memory, the second memory, and a static randomaccess memory (SRAM) and a register which are disposed separately fromthe first and second memories which are disposed in the second powerdomain.
 8. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe first and second power domains are comprised in a system-on-chip(SoC).
 9. A system-on-chip (SoC) unit to be installed in an electronicdevice having first and second power domains which are separatelysupplied with power through different power supply lines, comprising:first and second memories disposed in the second power domain; a maincontroller disposed in the first power domain to perform a controloperation using the first memory in a normal mode; a sub-controllerdisposed in the second power domain to perform a control operation usingthe second memory in a power-saving mode; and a context storage unit tostore context information, wherein a power supply to the first powerdomain is shut off when the normal mode is changed to the power-savingmode, the first memory operates in a self-refresh mode when the normalmode is changed to the power-saving mode, and the main controller copieslost central processing unit (CPU) context information, which is lostwhen shutting off the power supply to the first power domain, into thecontext storage unit when the normal mode is changed to the power-savingmode, and the main controller is booted using the CPU contextinformation stored in the context storage unit when the power-savingmode is changed to the normal mode.
 10. The SoC unit as claimed in claim9, wherein the context storage unit is at least one of the first memory,the second memory, and a SRAM and a register which are disposedseparately from the first and second memories which are disposed in thesecond power domain.
 11. A method of driving an image forming apparatuswhich is connected to a host device and the image forming apparatus hasfirst and second power domains which are separately supplied with powerthrough different power supply lines, where the second power domaincomprises first and second memories, a sub-controller to perform acontrol operation using the second memory in a power-saving mode, and acontext storage unit to store context information, and the first powerdomain comprises a main controller to shut off a power supply theretowhen the normal mode is changed to the power-saving mode and perform acontrol operation using the first memory in the normal mode, the methodcomprising: changing the first memory to a self-refresh mode when thenormal mode is changed to the power-saving mode and copying lost centralprocessing unit (CPU) context information, which is lost when shuttingoff a power supply to the first power domain, into the context storageunit; and booting the main controller using the CPU context informationstored in the context storage unit when the power-saving mode is changedto the normal mode.
 12. The method as claimed in claim 11, furthercomprising: supplying power to the first and second power domains; andwhen the normal mode is changed to the power-saving mode, controlling apower supply to shut off the power supplied to the first power domain.13. The method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising: receivingimage data with the image forming apparatus; processing the receivedimage data; and performing an image forming job with the processed imagedata, wherein the first power domain further comprises a data processingmodule to process the image data and an engine module to perform theimage forming job, and the second power domain further comprises a datareceiving module to receive the image data.
 14. The method as claimed inclaim 11, wherein the copying of the context information includescopying the CPU context information, which is lost when shutting off thepower supply to the first power domain, and copying context informationof elements of the first power domain into the context storage unit whenthe normal mode is changed to the power-saving mode.
 15. The method asclaimed in claim 11, further comprising: when a booting operation isperformed, determining whether the booting operation is performed in thenormal mode or whether the booting operation is a rebooting operationthat is performed in the power-saving mode, wherein when the bootingoperation is the rebooting operation performed in the power-saving mode,the main controller is booted using the CPU context information storedin the context storage unit.
 16. The method as claimed in claim 11,wherein the main controller changes a clock speed and a network linespeed for the power-saving mode and sets the image forming apparatus toa power-saving mode service when the normal mode is changed to thepower-saving mode.
 17. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein thefirst and second power domains are comprised in a system-on-chip (SoC).18. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the context storage unitis at least one of the first memory, the second memory, and a SRAM and aregister which are disposed separately from the first and secondmemories which are disposed in the second power domain. 19-25.(canceled)
 26. The SoC unit as claimed in claim 9, wherein when thenormal mode is changed to the power-saving mode, the main controllerchanges a clock speed and a network link speed for the power-saving modeand sets the image forming apparatus to a power-saving mode service. 27.The SoC unit as claimed in claim 9, wherein the context storage unit isat least one of the first memory, the second memory, and a SRAM and aregister which are disposed separately from the first and secondmemories which are disposed in the second power domain.